Ten books you’ll love to read aloud to your teenagers this summer

Don’t make the mistake of abandoning your read-aloud routine once the children grow older. Reading aloud to older children is just as valuable a use of your time as well as your children’s. Even into the teenage years, continue to protect and strengthen that read-aloud habit which you so carefully cultivated during the early years of homeschooling.

Drums by James Boyd
Johnny Fraser leaves his backwoods home in North Carolina to fight in the Revolutionary War.

The 39 Steps by John Buchan
After a few months of retired London life, Richard Hannay is completely bored. But things change. He finds a murdered man in his flat and is accused of murder and is in possession of a vital national secret and is wanted by a ring of dangerous spies and is chased all over England and Scotland and is almost killed I forget how many times. This is one of the first spy stories ever written and is best read using dialect.

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
The “Moonstone” is a yellow diamond stolen from the forehead of a Hindu moon-god statue in India and eventually inherited by Rachel Verinder. This is the story of how the stone is again stolen and of the troubled romance between Rachel and Franklin Blake.

Life With Father by Clarence Day
Clarence Day, Jr. tells the story of his life with his eccentric father, Clarence Day, Sr.

A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
Dr. Watson returns from service in Afghanistan and is introduced to a scientist named Sherlock Holmes. Holmes expresses interest in sharing rooms at 221B Baker Street with him. Holmes remains a perfect enigma to Watson until Holmes takes him into his confidence and lets Watson tag along as Holmes solves a mystery that has baffled Scotland Yard.

Hitty Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field
Hitty is a doll made for Phoebe Prible from a piece of well-seasoned mountain ash wood. Hitty tells the story of her first hundred years and how she is owned by many little girls, is lost several times, and sees many changes take place in society over her lifetime. By the end, we wonder if she will have even more adventures.

Beau Geste by P. C. Wren
A strange thing is found in the desert. Zinderneuf, a Sahara outpost, was attacked by Arabs, but when the rescuing party arrives, they find a fort full of dead men propped up in positions to look as if the fort is still defended. Thus begins a tale of bravery, a stolen jewel, and the loyalty of three brothers in the French Foreign Legion.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Uncle Tom’s master must sell Tom down river, away from his family. Another slave, Eliza, runs away, falsely thinking her baby will be sold down river too. Tom’s new master is good, but he dies and his widow sells Tom to one of the most famous villains of all time, Simon Legree. Meanwhile, Eliza travels with her child through the Underground Railroad toward Canada. When Simon Legree orders Tom to disclose the whereabouts of an escaped slave, Tom refuses and Legree beats him to unconsciousness. At the last moment,George Shelby, the son of Tom’s first master, arrives on the scene. This book is one of our favorites.

Wreck of the Grosvenor by W. Clark Russell
Mr. Royle is the new second mate of the Grosvenor. When the ship’s stores are found to be inedible, the captain refuses to take on new stores. When the captain refuses to take on shipwrecked survivors, Mr. Royle forcefully saves Mary Robertson and her father, for which the captain puts him in irons. The crew mutinies, kills the captain, and forces Mr. Royle to steer them to America.

Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft by Thor Heyerdahl
Thor Heyerdahl and several friends sail on a balsa wood raft from South America to Tahiti. They want to prove the natives of the Polynesian Islands could have sailed in this way, as their ancient legends tell. The raft encounters many dangers on the 101-day journey.

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One Response to “Ten books you’ll love to read aloud to your teenagers this summer”

Thank you so much for this post! As our older kids are teenagers now, I have been wondering if I just have reading aloud time with the younger ones only. I am so glad to read your post on this! I love the reading aloud time with all of them together! Nice to realize there is not an age limit! I appreciate your recommended reading list also! Bless you.